Overall about difficult moments of disappointment and vulnerability. Having hope and longing, while remaining optimistic for the future. Encourages the belief that with each new morning there is a chance for things to improve.
The chorus offers a glimmer of optimism and a chance at a resolution and redemption in the future.
Captures the rollercoaster of emotions of feeling lost while loving someone who is not there for you, feeling let down and abandoned while waiting for a lover. Lost with no direction, "Now I'm up in the air with the rain in my hair, Nowhere to go, I can go anywhere"
The bridge shows signs of longing and a plea for companionship. The Lyrics express a desire for authentic connection and the importance of Loving someone just as they are. "Just in passing, I'm not asking. That you be anyone but you”
There was a wait in the water,
A weight in the air.
If I'd waited any longer an additional fare.
And they can keep you around like a head on a stake,
I guess the industry found a use for my name sake.
I built my callouses up,
from fooling on the guitar.
I keep them hard in the midst of what seems soft and bizarre.
And ephemeral notions like a song are a curse,
offering a return but making me feel worse.
If you want to quit, you should quit like a winner.
Cut your losses and extricate yourself from the bidding.
And tell your friends that you could've if you'd wanted to,
and tell yourself that it's strong to make a hard call.
And when the others are all fed and watered,
you're still betting and cheering her on.
By then I'll bet you'll be gone.
So I sit in the meantime and sharpen my teeth,
and encode all the bitterness I choose to bequeath,
But if 1 = C then your A = 3 but the encryption just adds to the mendacity.
Now I'm on top of the water,
Still suppressed by the air.
I earn my wage on a track that's almost totally bare,
Of the things I expected when I first got the itch,
I'd turn it off if only there existed a switch.
And if you want to quit, you should quit like a winner.
Cut your losses and extricate yourself from the bidding.
And tell your friends that you could've if you'd wanted to,
And tell yourself that it's strong to make a hard call.
And if you wanna try you should try like a loser,
Who keeps on betting their life on a slow horse,
And every year well she gets a little more tired,
You're still betting, cheering her on.
By then I'll bet you'll be gone.
Sometimes I get to a point where little problems seem too big for me.
And then I let them unravel like a line in the ocean sinking down into the density.
And when the pressure becomes the same amount as what's inside of me.
Well I can sink and explode or hold my breath until I float,
I gamble on my own biology.
The barnacles on the ladder bleed my feet while they set a good
example in tenacity.
And if you want to quit, you should quit like a winner.
Cut your losses and extricate yourself from the bidding.
And tell your friends that you could've if you'd wanted to,
And tell yourself that it's strong to make a hard call.
And if you wanna try you should try like a loser,
Who keeps on betting their life on a slow horse,
And every year well she gets a little more tired,
You're still betting, cheering her on.
And when the others are all fed and watered,
you're still betting and cheering her on.
Yeah, you're still betting and cheering her on.
By then I'll bet you'll be gone,
by then I'll bet you'll be gone,
by then I'll bet you'll be gone,
by then I'll bet you'll be gone,
A weight in the air.
If I'd waited any longer an additional fare.
And they can keep you around like a head on a stake,
I guess the industry found a use for my name sake.
I built my callouses up,
from fooling on the guitar.
I keep them hard in the midst of what seems soft and bizarre.
And ephemeral notions like a song are a curse,
offering a return but making me feel worse.
If you want to quit, you should quit like a winner.
Cut your losses and extricate yourself from the bidding.
And tell your friends that you could've if you'd wanted to,
and tell yourself that it's strong to make a hard call.
And when the others are all fed and watered,
you're still betting and cheering her on.
By then I'll bet you'll be gone.
So I sit in the meantime and sharpen my teeth,
and encode all the bitterness I choose to bequeath,
But if 1 = C then your A = 3 but the encryption just adds to the mendacity.
Now I'm on top of the water,
Still suppressed by the air.
I earn my wage on a track that's almost totally bare,
Of the things I expected when I first got the itch,
I'd turn it off if only there existed a switch.
And if you want to quit, you should quit like a winner.
Cut your losses and extricate yourself from the bidding.
And tell your friends that you could've if you'd wanted to,
And tell yourself that it's strong to make a hard call.
And if you wanna try you should try like a loser,
Who keeps on betting their life on a slow horse,
And every year well she gets a little more tired,
You're still betting, cheering her on.
By then I'll bet you'll be gone.
Sometimes I get to a point where little problems seem too big for me.
And then I let them unravel like a line in the ocean sinking down into the density.
And when the pressure becomes the same amount as what's inside of me.
Well I can sink and explode or hold my breath until I float,
I gamble on my own biology.
The barnacles on the ladder bleed my feet while they set a good
example in tenacity.
And if you want to quit, you should quit like a winner.
Cut your losses and extricate yourself from the bidding.
And tell your friends that you could've if you'd wanted to,
And tell yourself that it's strong to make a hard call.
And if you wanna try you should try like a loser,
Who keeps on betting their life on a slow horse,
And every year well she gets a little more tired,
You're still betting, cheering her on.
And when the others are all fed and watered,
you're still betting and cheering her on.
Yeah, you're still betting and cheering her on.
By then I'll bet you'll be gone,
by then I'll bet you'll be gone,
by then I'll bet you'll be gone,
by then I'll bet you'll be gone,
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“I overthink and have trouble sleepin’ / All purpose gone and don’t have a reason / And there’s no doctor to stop this bleedin’ / So I left home and jumped in the deep end,” Ed Sheeran sings in verse one. He continues by adding that this person is feeling the weight of having disappointed his father and doesn’t have any friends to rely on in this difficult moment. In the second verse, Ed sings about the role of grief in his friend’s plight and his dwindling faith in prayer. “Saturday night is givin’ me a reason to rely on the strobe lights / The lifeline of a promise in a shot glass, and I’ll take that / If you’re givin’ out love from a plastic bag,” Ed sings on the chorus, as his friend turns to new vices in hopes of feeling better.
This reminds of me those macho twats but I don't think it's about that.
Sounds like failure, the fear of it and the overall 'depth' of someone who feels that success is number one.
It's about gambling and gambling addiction. "And If you want to quit, you should quit like a winner. Cut your losses and extricate yourself from the bidding."
"And if you wanna try you should try like a loser, Who keeps on betting their life on a slow horse,"
Firstly, I agree with speakerrun that the chorus on the surface appears to be about a gambling addicton: it demeans stayng in the game, as by chosing to gamble you are a "loser" and by choosng to cut your losses you are a "winner".
The verses however seem to be about the music industry:
"And they can keep you around like a head on a stake, I guess the industry found a use for my name sake."
"I built my callouses up, from fooling on the guitar. I keep them hard in the midst of what seems soft and bizarre."
"And ephemeral notions like a song are a curse, offering a return but making me feel worse."
"So I sit in the meantime and sharpen my teeth, And encode all the bitterness I choose to bequeath, But if 1 = C then your A = 3 but the encryption just adds to the mendacity."
"Now I'm on top of the water, Still suppressed by the air."
"I earn my wage on a track that's almost totally bare,"
"Of the things I expected when I first got the itch, I'd turn it off if only there existed a switch."
Read in the light of the verses, the chorus then acts as an extended metaphor.
On the surface the chorus is about gambling. The music industry is a gamble that "winners" gently bow out of before they are tired out. In the end we are left with the note "by then I bet you'll be gone", which is cleaverly dichotomous: he hopes he will be a "winner" and have bowed out, but at present he is still betting, still gambling, and still playing the music game.
"If you want to quit, you should quit like a winner. Cut your losses and extricate yourself from the bidding. And tell your friends that you could've if you'd wanted to, And tell yourself that it's strong to make a hard call.
And when the others are all fed and watered, You're still betting and cheering her on. By then I'll bet you'll be gone."
This bit seems to me to be about a girl that everyone likes, everyone wants a piece of her etc, but sometimes you take yourself out of the running because you know you'll never get her, but out of bravado or whatever you tell your friends that you "could've" if you'd wanted to.
But deep down you really, really like her, you want more than one thing and then when the others are all "fed & watered" i.e. have got what they wanted from this girl, you're still "cheering her on" which to me represents a deep, deep feeling for her, but because you've removed yourself from the running you're "gone" and will never stand a chance with her.
Josh Pyke said before playing this song live at Solar Music Festival that he was trying to write a song comparing the music industry to the horse racing industry.
Josh Pyke said before playing this song live at Solar Music Festival that he was trying to write a song comparing the music industry to the horse racing industry.
So I sit in the meantime and sharpen my teeth, And encode all the bitterness I choose to bequeath, But if 1 = C then your A = 3 but the encryption just adds to the mendacity.
I really, really love that bit There really arent enough songs with "bequeath" in them lol